Secrets
by TurboLoverBOP
Summary: Sequel to Dear Ol' Dad


This story is a sequel to "Dear Ol' Dad" so if you haven't read that one please do so before you take a bite out of this one.

I'm not sure on exact dates and ages when it comes to Selina's death, so I'm winging it. It is assumed in this story that Helena is about 23 years old, so keep that in mind. Suspend all you have learned before and think of this as another twist in the world of BoP.

**SECRETS**

New Gotham was pretty much on it's own for the past week as we all took the necessary time to recover from our injuries. They had the New Gotham PD to keep them safe for the time being, so it was better than nothing.

Normally I'm one to get right back out there and I would have considering I healed up quickly, but I was concerned for Barbara who doesn't have that luxury. I just wanted to keep an eye on her for a few days.

Today was the first day that Barbara was back in her usual spot - behind her computers. "You're only sitting here for a few hours, right?" I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for the answer I wanted to hear.

"Yes. Just until around ten o'clock." She had that look in her eye.

"Promise?"

She hesitated.

"Promise?!?" I repeated.

"Yes! Now go."

I frowned and headed out on my first night back on sweeps. I know she wasn't telling me the truth, but that was something I'd have to deal with later. Right now, I had more important things to take care of.

0 0 0

The loud buzzing of the door being unlocked pierced through my eardrums. I couldn't imagine listening to that all day long.

I stepped into the small room and waited as another large steel door was unlocked. Then I was escorted down a long and dark hallway.

At the end of the hall, my escort unlocked a door that had a small window in it. He stepped aside and I walked into the room. "Fifteen minutes," he said before walking out.

The room wasn't very big. In front of me was a giant wall of what looked to be thick plexiglass. Behind the wall was Jackson Flicker who was sitting on a wooden chair in the middle of his room, staring right at me with an angry look in his eyes. "Huntress. How nice of you to come visit."

I felt my body tense as he said my name. "Well, I was hoping that when I came to see you you'd be six feet under, but things don't always work out the way I want them to."

"Aw, I sense a little hostility. Say...how's the ribs? I'll never forget the sound of them cracking. Gets me all...excited." He licked his lips and then smiled.

I sneered at him, sickened by his talk.

"And how's my little Oracle doing? I never did quite get a chance to finish what I started. I mean, I wanted to thank her for..."

"Thank her for what? All those times you asked her out and she said no because she realized you were a psychopath?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "I thought she was different from all the other women I'd met. She was smart, beautiful, and so full of life. We would always have long conversations over coffee and I thought for sure she felt the same way. She told me her name was Oracle, which was definitely different than any other female's name I'd heard. The more I talked to her the more I knew I had to have her. So I asked her out and she said no. I thought maybe it was just bad timing on my part so I asked again and again and again."

"Yeah, you seem to have a problem with taking a hint."

"One night I followed her. She was in her car and she met a man dressed in a bat suit. I saw the look on her face when she saw him, how she lit up with joy, love and lust. He was big and strong and she ate it all up. So I decided to become him. I worked out and became very strong, I think you can vouch for that, and I created a suit that was exactly like his."

He got up from his chair and came closer to the wall. "One night I decided to show her that I could be just like him so I followed her again. But just as I was about to reveal myself, he showed up." He pressed his head against the glass and put his hands over his head. "Then they kissed." He was silent for a moment and then he began banging his fists on the glass, harder and harder each time.

The guard came into the room after hearing the noise. "What's going on in here?" He saw Flicker banging on the glass like a madman and took out a small remote. He pressed it and Flicker's side of the room began filling up with a white gas.

"You tell Oracle that someday I will escape again and I'll kill her AND her bat lover!!"

"Like hell you will," I responded. Part of me wanted to break down the wall and beat him senseless.

He began coughing and laughing as he sank to his knees as the gas started to take affect. "I will have my revenge!" he choked out before falling to the ground, unmoving.

The guard escorted me out of Arkham and I felt shivers run up and down my spine. Too much of my life has ties to this damn place and it freaks me out every time I go in there.

As I turned my comm back on, I realized I now had some information that I didn't have before - that my father and Barbara were perhaps lovers at one point.

:: Huntress::

Speak of the devil. "Go ahead."

:: I thought I told you no turning off your comm set::

"I know. I know. I just had to have a private conversation with Reese, if you don't mind." I hated to lie. I was never good at it because I always got caught. Like now.

:: Uh huh. Seeing as Reese was on a call five minutes ago I... ::

"Look, can we have this discussion later?"

:: Fine. Just keep your comm set on and go check out a man lingering around the bank downtown. ::

"On my way."

0 0 0

It ended up being a slow night, and I was glad because it was starting to snow. Try jumping over rooftops without slipping on your ass - not an easy thing.

Instead of going home to my apartment, I decided to go back to the Clocktower. I had two reasons: one was the make sure Barbara stayed away from the damn Delphi and two was to tap into the Delphi to get some information.

When I got there she was sitting there typing away. "Um, did we not agree that at ten o'clock you would get away from the computers?"

She smiled quickly but continued. "I know. I...I just started working on something and..."

"It's almost ten thirty. Step away from the computer. Tomorrow is another day."

As she typed I could see her shifting in her chair and wincing. "Just a few more minutes."

"No," I said as I got closer to her. "You're obviously in pain and you shouldn't be sitting for that long. You need to go lie down."

Barbara put her head down and threw her hands up. "Alright. You win."

It seemed far too easy but she looked mentally and physically exhausted. "Good. Now let's go." I trailed behind her as we went to her room.

"Were you okay out on sweeps? Are your ribs okay? Maybe..."

"Maybe nothing. I'm fine. I'm Meta, remember? You focus on you and get to bed. Take a Tylenol PM or something because I don't want to see you until tomorrow. Now goodnight." I winked at her before walking out and shutting the door behind me.

I had the computers all to myself so I did some digging and managed to come up with an address for Mr. Flicker. I wrote it down on a sticky note and shoved it in my pocket as I exited out of the program and logged out.

"What'cha doin'?" Dinah said as she walked towards me.

"Nothing."

"Give me a break. Since when do YOU use a computer?"

"Look, little Miss Nosey, it's best that you stay out of it. It's personal." I walked past her and went straight for the elevator.

"I COULD overlook it and not tell Barbara if..."

I stopped dead in my tracks and spun around on my heels. "Don't even think about blackmailing me, you little twerp. Stay OUT of this."

"It would be so helpful if someone were to pick me up from school every day. Catch my drift."

"Fine...whatever. I don't have time to argue about this right now. Meanwhile, you open your fat trap and you'll be sorry you did." I turned back around and got into the elevator. As I rode it down I wondered if I was that annoying when I was her age and I knew I was. It was almost repulsive.

The snow was coming down pretty good now and I grumbled under my breath at the thought of being out in it again. But I sucked it up and made it to Flicker's apartment.

I picked the lock with ease, that was probably the only good thing about these slums was that the locks were cheap as hell and a first grader could pick them.

I eased my way inside and shut the door. I didn't have to be quiet about it because the wailing baby next door was enough to mask any noise. I could have ransacked the place and no one would know the thing was crying so loud.

The smell of rotting food and maggots quickly introduced itself to my nose. "Yuck," I said as I saw the various sources of rot - mostly pizza and Chinese take out containers.

I walked to the back of the apartment and into his bedroom. It was more like a closet, if you ask me. There was no window and it was only big enough to hold a twin bed.

Flipping on the light, I was immediately taken aback by the collage of photos on the wall that were all of Barbara. He'd obviously been stalking her for quite some time because there were hundreds of photos. But the most disturbing were the ones that he'd altered. He had a bunch of photos of her with someone and he'd cut them out and insert his own photo. "This is fucked up."

My eye came across one of my father and Barbara and my father's face was X'd out. I reached up and pulled it off the wall, flipping it over to see if there was a date. Sure enough...June 27, 1993. My mind raced as it computed a bunch of mathematical equations. I had already thought of the answer prior to me actually seeing a date in front of me, but it only confirmed my suspicion - my father was having an affair with Barbara during the same time he was seeing my mother.

I put the photo in my pocket and left the apartment, ignoring the smell and the filth because I had far more important things on my mind now.

0 0 0

I spent the next 24 hours going over and over it all in my head. I didn't know whether to be mad at my father or Barbara. I was 14 years old in 1993 and Barbara was well aware of who I was and who my parents were. Then there's my father. He may not have known about me at the time, but he claimed to be madly in love with my mother.

:: Huntress::

I rolled my eyes as I heard Barbara's voice in my ear. "What?"

:: Everything alright? You sound mad. ::

"Just a little preoccupied is all."

:: Well, we need to have a little talk. Seems as though you were doing a little snooping last night on my computer. ::

I shook my head, "I'm gonna kill Canary, she..."

:: She has nothing to do with it. You forget that I know a lot more about these things than you do. I figured it all out on my own. ::

Busted.

:: You mind telling me why you were looking up Jackson Flicker's address? I thought we had agreed to let this go::

"I...I can't let this one go."

I heard her sigh. :: Look, I know how you get when a man has the upperhand and I'm sure it bothers you that he beat you so badly, but... ::

"It's more than just that."

:: You need to move on. Stop... ::

My anger began to get the best of me. "Stop trying to blow it off like it's nothing. He told me everything."

There was silence for a moment. :: You went to Arkham::

"Yeah, I went to Arkham."

:: I thought I told you NOT to go there, not to go anywhere near him::

"I had to find out what was really going on, since it's painfully obvious that you're not going to offer any information. You keep telling me to forget it. Well I can't forget it, Oracle. No wonder my mom hated you so much." I clicked my comm set off and felt my heart thumbing wildly in my chest. I smashed my fist into the side of the dumpster next to me in anger. I think what bothered me most was that she just couldn't be honest with me.

I scaled the side of the building and made it onto the roof, finding Dinah standing there - hands on her hips. "Nice try."

"What?" I huffed, "I thought you'd sell me out considering you walked home this afternoon."

"What's going on with you?"

I shook my head. "You still have your comm on so I'm not saying another word." I walked to the edge of the building and sat down on the rooftop, leaning my back against the brick.

"There...comm is off. Now talk."

My mouth never opened.

"Come on, Helena. Contrary to what you want to believe, I had no intention of ratting on you. You can trust me. Haven't we been in enough situations where I've proven that to you?"

The kid was right. "I'm sorry. I...I just don't know how to deal with this. Hell, I don't even know if I SHOULD be dealing with this. It's in the past and there's nothing I can do to change it, but it just irks me that..."

"What?" she said as she took a seat next to me.

"That I got my ass handed to me because of something Barbara did."

Dinah wore a confused look. "Wait, she told us that this guy was stalking her a long time ago."

I took out the photo and handed it to her.

"Oh my God. That's...that's..."

"My father."

"Okay. Let me get this straight, Barbara and your father were an item."

I flipped the photo over and showed her the date. "Apparently while my father was also with my mother."

"Oh geez."

"So I'm mad for a lot of reasons." I took the photo from her and slipped it back into my pocket as I got up.

"You need to talk to her about it and find out the truth."

"Yeah," I said as I jumped off the side of the building and disappeared into the night.

0 0 0

I went to the Clocktower and walked past Barbara, ignoring her calling to me. Instead of turning around I entered the training room and decided to do a little boxing to blow off some steam. Naturally, she came in.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" _BLAM! BLAM!_

"What's going on with you? Are you mad at me because I told you not to go to Arkham? Is that it?"

_BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!_ "No, I'm just mad because you left out the part where you and my father were having an affair while he was still with my mother."

She didn't answer. She didn't have to. She looked guilty as hell.

_BLAM! BLAM!_ One more swing and the bag ripped open, sand flying everywhere.

"I didn't know he was with your mother at the time. It...it wasn't a long affair. I stopped seeing him after I found out he was seeing Seline. I swear I never would have..."

"You knew he was my father. How could you do that?"

"Just because he's your father doesn't mean he doesn't deserve the right to be loved by someone."

I took my gloves off and threw them on the ground. "So I assume this is one of the reasons why my mother couldn't even say your name."

She nodded in agreement. "Yes. But I honestly didn't know. I know that she wanted to keep you a secret from him and I kept that promise for her. When he disappeared for years and the suddenly came back I didn't think that she'd take him back so easy."

"How did you find out?"

"How everyone else usually finds out, I found them together."

I started pacing because I didn't know what else to do.

"I was never able to fully apologize to your mother."

I stopped pacing and leaned against the wall. "Why is my father such a jerk? It...it almost sickens me when people tell me stories of him and how much of a stand up kinda guy he is and blah blah blah, but do they realize he's never taken care of me? He's never made an attempt to be a part of my life. And now I find out he's just like all the other players out there."

Barbara wheeled closer to me. "He was scared."

"Oh bullshit. He just didn't want to take responsibility and having a kid would mean having to act like a mature adult instead of some horny teenage boy fucking every woman in town."

"Helena! Enough! I'm not going to sit here and listen to you talk like this about him."

"You're just defending him because he's sucked you into his little game. He was your mentor, alright."

_WHAM!_

I never saw that one coming - her fist right into my ribs. The same ones that had been damaged a week prior.

She pointed her finger in my face as I lay on the ground gasping, "That's enough! I loved and still love your father, and there's not a Goddamn thing you or anyone can do about it. He saved my life, Helena, more than once. Now what happened between your father and I is OUR business, not yours."

I stood up, not entirely straight but I stood up. "It is my business when some freakazoid that pretended to be my father and was fully aware of your extra curricular activities beats me down to the point where I'm coughing up my own blood. That's what started this whole mess and uncovered your little secret."

The anger was boiling inside her and I was waiting for her to hit me again, but she didn't. She knew I was right.

"What else aren't you telling me? Huh, Barbara? Huh?"

Her lip started to quiver and the tears began to well up in her eyes.

"You know what? Forget it, I'm out of here."

"You have a sister," she said softly as I walked past her.

I heard the word "sister" and my heart jumped into my throat. "What?" I asked as I quickly spun around.

"You...you have a sister."

I honestly hadn't expected her to tell me anything else when I made that comment. "Wh--how--what?"

"You father and someone else, someone who was Meta, had another daughter together. Her mother gave her up for adoption when she was born. She's 21 years old now."

"Oh God, this can't be happening." I ran my fingers through my hair, "Where is she?"

"Last I checked she was in New Jersey, but that was a few years ago."

"Does my father know?" I cringed as the words came out because I knew how it felt to have a dad and have him not know I even existed.

"Yes," she said flatly.

"Oh for the love of God. Are you kidding me? What is it with my family?"

"Unfortunately it's similar to your situation. He knows of her but doesn't know where she is. I never told him details because she...she..."

"What?"

"She's troubled. Her Meta DNA had a mutation. To a doctor it looks like human DNA but it's far from it. She's been in and out of foster homes. No one knows how to take care of her. She's spent a lot of time in jail."

"Why aren't you helping her?"

"I can't. It...it's too much right now."

"Then I'll have to find her."

She grabbed my wrist tightly, "Don't. Let her be. Please Helena. I know I've kept way too many secrets from you and tell you all the time not to get involved in things but with this one I'm begging you."

"Why?" I asked as I pulled my arm away.

"Because she could kill you."

FIN (for now - sequel coming soon!)


End file.
